[This article was first published here on our partners Exponent Philanthropy’s site] Let’s say you own a company that makes energy bars. You wouldn’t dream of releasing a new product line without seeing if your fitness-focused target buyers liked it. Similarly, a foundation should not launch a new grant program without checking in with the…
I ended my most recent post by saying I thought the field of philanthropy would benefit by hearing more from small foundations about how they practice grantmaking. Shortly thereafter I was directed to a monograph that strongly underscored that point. Trusting What We Don’t Know by Maribel Alvarez is both an insightful reflection on philanthropy…
How can we re-imagine a brighter future through social enterprise? This question was at the heart of the recent Ashoka Future Forum, which attracted about 400 social entrepreneurs from around the world. Many of the sessions focused on cultivating mindfulness, trust, and empathy, and offered ideas about what the future could look like with more…
By John Esterle (The following can also be found on Beth Kanter’s blog, as a guest post from John.) One of the themes raised up as the GEO/Monitor Institute conference came to an end was the importance of trust and relationship building in networks. Indeed, that was my theme for the day given that I…